Health and Human Services Building wins green award

Oct. 5, 2007

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University has been awarded a
$15,000 federal grant to help its College of Health and Human
Services Building meet national energy efficiency standards and
put it among one of the highest performing buildings in Michigan.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing
Buildings, or LEED-EB, award from the U.S. Department of Energy
will go toward evaluating current energy efficient systems in
the three-year-old building and installing new systems to improve
airflow. The work supported by the grant will be conducted during
the next 12 months.

Besides fine-tuning the building's current equipment, WMU
will pursue improvements to heating and air conditioning systems
and look to reduce the amount of outside air that is being brought
into the building while maintaining air quality standards.

Carl Newton, WMU energy reduction manager, is working on the
project with Jim Nicolow, senior associate with Lord-Aeck-Sargent
Architecture in Ann Arbor. Nicolow is married to Dr. Amy Curtis,
WMU associate professor for interdisciplinary health studies,
who works in the 240,000-square-foot Health and Human Services
building.